Sunshine came to a rain drenched and grumpy home this week when our FIRST EVER wormery was safely delivered. Mia helped Mummy do the big jigsaw and make a bed for the wrigglers. We then settled them in the yard neatly behind the barbecue with a few scraps. We secured the lid and left them for a week as instructed. The next day Dave and I were hopping with excitement, and yes, glee, so we took a peek. They were all over the bin like a rash! The info says that some exploration in the early days is normal but this was crazy. I do hope they're happy. I do, I do , I do!Yours, proud and anxious in Liverpool.
p.s. Mum and Matt have been on at us for years to get one - hope you're pleased p.p.s. What killed your worms Pen?
9 comments:
I wrote a guide to worming for my friend who was getting some, I'll post it for you at mattlow.com/mattster. Hope it helps.
Keep the balance of green (food) and brown (paper, leaves etc) even and make sure they have enough space to sleep (avoiding the food) and you should be ok.
Will Kate & Dave have to bring the wormery indoors for the winter?
What's the longest you can leave the wormery unattended?
K&D which make of wormery did you get?
We've just started separating vegetable waste instead of putting it down the waste disposal, but at the moment it's going on the compost heap.
Dad
Once it got really hot and some of the worms survived but a great number died, and made a horrible stench so I'm not sure if the chemical balance was off (too acidic?). My next batch were fine and I moved them to a big wooden box. My biggest problem were the rodents. Once,I didn't have my glasses on and mistook a tail for a giant worm until it jumped out at me. Really gross! So try and make your bin as rodent proof as possible. My neighbours were a little ticked.
This last time, I hadn't fed them for a while and all the worms just disappeared. I really don't know what happened. But because I couldn't get out of the house because of the door, I couldn't really maintain or check on them. They should have been able to survive even without food. Before, I would see solid masses of worms burrowing out of the rotten mangoes and bananas so perhaps they were used to a lot of food but it's a mystery how they all disappeared. It is also possible they didn't have enough brown (newspaper, leaves) for the balance. I miss them though!
Emma insisted on putting the podcasts of "In our time" on her new iPod. Let's see if she actually listens to them. We were listening to the Thanksgiving one and I thought she lost interest five minutes into the broadcast, but she was asking questions about it so who knows? some of it might be absorbed.
The Hanabanana post was Pen. I hadn't realized she'd logged in but you probably figured that out.
Hi gang, great rash of comments, this newfangled blogging trick may just work!
We have an Original Wormery from Original Organics. http://www.originalorganics.co.uk
Not quite as aesthetic and rustic as a wooden box but pretty rat and fly proof. It has a tap for decanting the heavenly worm liquor to dilute and use as fertiliser. Apparently a family of 4 would empty the bin after 12-18 months... it's mainly the liquid you get out.
I don't think we'll bring it in in the winter. As ou know Liverpool is mild and it's tucked in a corner next to the house. Apparently they slow down in winter. The company sell insulating jackets for the bins if you worry aout the little darlings!
Glad Emma likes In Our Time - I love it. I think I might just love Melvyn Bragg the presenter. I listen to it in the car as I drive in and out of hospital when I'm on call - like today - and it saves my sanity - just makes me think about things I wouldn't normally.
Hanabanana... realised it wasn't you after 1 sentence. Can you imagine Hana saying "a great number died"?
Dave thinks the worms will eat better than him! - K
Well, we're following the trend and we've got a wormery too!
We've only had it since last Friday, so it still has its week-long 'do not disturb' notice on it, so I can't see how it's doing.
We had a couple of foxes going through the rubbish bags on Monday night (Spice woke us up barking at them.) They neatly took out the chicken carcass which was inside two plastic bags inside the binbag. They were beautiful to watch, and didn't seem to be too bothered about the racket Spice (and other dogs in the neighbourhood) were kicking up.
SL
Well our worms are starting to smell... Methinks my new found composting enthusiasm may have led to a bit of over feeding before they had settled in. Having added more newspaper and stirred up the rancid peelings there seems to be a bit more worm activity...
How would you know if they all died?
Good luck with yours, I'm sure you'll be much more disciplined about the do not disturb instructions.
Love K
p.s. Matt - where's this promised worming guide???
K
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